Gaston College stays unbeaten after completing 3-game sweep at ranked Region 10 opponent

Gaston College's unbeaten start to its baseball season continued on Sunday as the hard-hitting Rhinos won 12-6 at Patrick & Henry Community College in Martinsville, Va., to complete a three-game Region 10 series sweep.

Gaston College is now 11-0 on the season and has scored 108 runs with six games with 10 or more runs including all three games in this weekend's sweep.

Patrick & Henry, ranked No. 10 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II preseason poll, fell to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the region.

"To go in there and win three games says a lot about our club," Gaston College coach Shohn Doty said.

Gaston College scored in the top of the first inning and after being tied at 1 after two innings, the Rhinos put the game away with six in the third, three in the fourth and two in the sixth.

"I think when you go into any series on the road, you're trying to win the series," Doty said of facing a Patriots club that finished fourth in the 2021 NJCAA Division II World Series. "After winning both games yesterday and knowing we were going to win the series put a lot of pressure on them and not a lot of pressure on us. We obviously still had something to play for but I thought we played really loose today."

J.D. Yakubinis (two hits, three RBIs), Pierson Gunnell (2-run home run) and Wade Kelly (2 RBIs) led a nine-hit Gaston College offense.

Yakubinis' two-out RBI single got the Rhinos on top in the first inning and he later added a two-run single in the six-run third that was highlighted by Gunnell's two-run home run. Kelly's two-out, two-run single highlighted the three-run fifth.

On the mound, starter and winner Tyler Parks (3-0) struck out six in four innings before relievers Hunter Shew, Gus Hughes and Christian Baker combined for five innings of one-run relief.

"I thought Parks was really good for the first three innings and then our bullpen really came up big for us," Doty said.

Gaston College is off until a Wednesday 4 p.m. game at perennial NJCAA Division I power Spartanburg Methodist; The Rhinos rallied to beat the Pioneers 8-7 on Feb. 6 in their first meeting of the season.

"I couldn't be more excited for our guys," said Doty, whose team returns home for a three-game Region 10 series against Guilford Tech at Gastonia's CaroMont Health Park that starts on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. "It's really been a start that you can only dream about. How many first-year programs just want to finish at .500? So for us to be off to the start we are speaks to the dedication of our kids and our coaching staff. I think we're heading in the right direction."